Trump calls off June 12 summit with North Korean leader

Trump called off the highly anticipated June 12 summit with Kim Jong Un

He cited the ‘tremendous anger and open hostility displayed’ by North Korea in its recent statement

A North Korean official earlier said that the country would make Washington ‘taste an appalling tragedy’

WASHINGTON, U.S. - Merely hours after Kim Jong Un confirmed that North Korea’s underground test site, Punggye-ri had been dismantled as part of his pledge to end all nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests - the U.S. President Donald Trump called off his planned summit with the North Korean leader.

Trump announced on Thursday that he was calling off the highly anticipated June 12 summit, citing the rogue regime’s recent media statement.

Earlier in the day, in remarks carried on North Korea’s official KCNA news service, the country’s Vice-Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, said that the country would not "beg the U.S. for dialogue" and warned that it could make Washington "taste an appalling tragedy."

Son Hui was responding to a statement made by the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who warned that it would be a "mistake" for the North Koreans to think they can "play" Trump.

In an interview with Fox News earlier this week, Pence said that both the Clinton and Bush administrations had been "played" by the North Korean government.

He explained, "We offered concessions to the North Korean regime in exchange for promises to end their nuclear weapons program, only to see them break those promises and abandon them.”

Pence repeated the warning - made earlier by Trump’s National Security Adviser, John Bolton - that if Pyongyang does not go along with talks to give up its nuclear weapons, Washington could return to the "Libya model."

The statement, even earlier had angered Pyongyang, which warned of retaliation.

In 2004, negotiations in Libya led to the shipping of nuclear components to the U.S. from Libya under Moammar Gadhafi.

However, Pyongyang believes that what came after this negotiation is important - Gadhafi was deposed after a 42-year reign and killed in 2011 after which his country spiraled into chaos.

After Bolton first made the remarks about the Libya model, North Korea retorted, saying demands made by the U.S. threaten the planned Singapore summit.

Then, Trump surprisingly distanced himself from the suggestion, which was again repeated by Pence this week.

In response to Pence’ statement on Thursday, North Korea’s Vice-Foreign Minister said, "In view of the remarks of the U.S. high-ranking politicians who have not yet woken up to this stark reality and compare the DPRK to Libya that met a tragic fate, I come to think that they know too little about us.”

Son Hui added, “To borrow their words, we can also make the U.S. taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined up to now."

Hui also dubbed Pence a "political dummy" and called his recent comments "ignorant and stupid."

Hui said, "We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us. Whether the U.S. will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States. As a person involved in the U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice president. In case the U.S. offends against our goodwill and clings to unlawful and outrageous acts, I will put forward a suggestion to our supreme leadership for reconsidering the DPRK-U.S. summit.”

On Thursday, after the to and fro of words, Trump has called off a highly-anticipated June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

He said, “Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long planned meeting."

Trump’s statement also comes a couple of days after Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae In on Tuesday at the White House for consultations.

He then suggested, for the first time amid rumors that the summit could be delayed or even called off entirely.